Mr. Chair, there have been many amendments, and I hope I can explain them clearly to you.
To replace amendment BQ‑2, I move the amendment that the clerk emailed to you at 3:40 p.m. This new amendment is in the same spirit as amendment BQ‑2.
I want to acknowledge my colleague Mr. Weiler's very thorough work on this. I also welcome the fact that the government is proposing measures to limit greenwashing. That said, the purpose of my amendment is to go further. After completing some working sessions, I came up with what I'm going to propose to you, which is largely inspired by what Mr. Weiler might have proposed, but I'm also adding something at the end.
I would remind you that it's not amendment BQ‑2, but rather the amendment sent by the clerk in mid-afternoon. This amendment proposes that clause 236 of Bill C‑59 be amended first by replacing lines 14 and 15 on page 428 with the following:
benefits for protecting or restoring the environment or mitigating the environmental, social and ecological causes or effects of climate
Second, the amendment proposes that the same clause of the bill be amended by adding after line 18 on page 428 the following:
(b.2) makes a representation to the public with respect to the benefits of a business or business activity for protecting or restoring the environment or mitigating the environmental and ecological causes or effects of climate change that is not based on adequate and proper substantiation in accordance with internationally recognized methodology, the proof of which lies on the person making the representation and the evidence for which must be made publicly available upon request;
The amendment aims to limit greenwashing. For example, companies that make claims about their products will have to be able to prove it. To add to the work done by my colleague Mr. Weiler, I inserted “and the evidence for which must be made publicly available upon request” at the end of the wording so that people can have access downstream to the evidence a company has used to trumpet the environmental benefits of its product.
I hope I've been clear.
I'd like to point out that Mr. Davies worked a great deal on this whole part as well, so I hope to get his support too.
That would be my suggestion.